Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill is one of 46 volcanoes that dot the landscape of Tāmaki Makaurau.
At about 180m high, it is the region's second-largest volcano, after Rangitoto. Geologists estimate that it was formed more than 28,000 years ago.
‘Maungakiekie’ means ‘the mountain where kiekie grows abundantly’. Kiekie is a native vine that has now all but disappeared from the maunga.
The Maungakiekie pā (Māori fortress) was once home to several thousand people, making it one of the largest in Tāmaki Makaurau. Its tihi (summit) was considered highly sacred and was heavily fortified (see conceptual reconstruction above).
The maunga and the land around it were made a public reserve in 1901. In 2014, Maungakiekie, along with 13 other Auckland tūpuna maunga, was returned to the mana whenua iwi/hapū of Auckland.
To help protect spiritual, cultural, historical and geological values, the road to the tihi will become vehicle free in 2018.
